


spacial awareness

by syugafairy



Series: Gender Is A Social Construct [1]
Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternate Universe - Space, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Minor Violence, References to past trauma, Slow Burn, Space Pirates, but nothing too serious, ten uses neutral pronouns
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-06-28 05:04:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19805329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syugafairy/pseuds/syugafairy
Summary: Captain Qian Kun spends his star-days cruising through space with his small crew. They are looking for anything that can be of use to them as they research the unknown. For a while, it all goes well. They all have their roles; Kun pilots the spacecraft-the NCT 116. Doyoung tends to his plants. Ten maintains the mechanics of the craft, making sure everything is running as it should be.That is until a familiar figure breaks into the craft, attempting a hijacking. It’s not until then that memories of Kun’s past start to resurface.





	1. One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is a project i’m currently working on during campnano! i’ve been working super hard on it, please enjoy it~

‘Hey, have either of you seen my Pad?’ Kun called out into the half-empty ship. The response he got was a series of clangs and various sounds seeming chaotic in nature. Doyoung emerged from one of the doorways and handed Kun his Pad. Kun sighed as he noticed how it was already on low charge and had a chunk of one of the corners missing. Kun breathed a quick thanks and hurried to attach it to its charging port.

‘Ten doesn’t know where their kit has gone, have you seen it?’ Doyoung asked as he followed Kun into his chamber. Kun ignored how he had to detach his feathers from where they had gotten caught in some metal on the wall. He can deal with that later.

‘How would I know? I haven’t even seen _Ten_ today. You ask them where they last left it, I’m busy.’

Kun and his crew were scheduled to leave for their voyage in two star-days. Kun had tried to stress to the officials that their ship was nowhere near ready for a departure yet. But, they seemed to insist that leaving at the scheduled time was necessary for their work.

‘I swear Commander Sooman has it out for me sometimes,’ Kun grumbled to Doyoung. They were working on repairing one of the water tanks.

Doyoung let out a sound resembling a snort. ‘That’s bullshit, he literally graduated you before everyone else in your year, and let you captain a ship at age _nineteen_.’

‘Fine, you make a good point. However, he also just refused to postpone the departure date even though this ship is in no way ready yet. Not to mention this is his fault - old man doesn’t know how to take care of a ship at all. I do everything I can to look after this ship and keep it in good condition and as soon as I dock it and it’s in his care, it suddenly turns to shit. It’s all a mess, and I can’t find anything I need and neither can you or Ten, apparently,’ Kun rambled on. He was becoming more aggressive as he works on tightening a loose screw.

‘That’s true, I guess. Do you wanna grab a drink with Ten and I later?’ Doyoung proposed, changing the subject before Kun broke the tank.

‘No, I’m _busy_.’

‘Please, it’ll be like an hour tops, and it’s on me. Don’t stress yourself out, Captain.’ Doyoung hooked up a water pipe to the tank once he deemed it ready.

‘Ugh. Fine, but only one drink and you’re paying. Afterwards, I will come back here and finish sorting out the ship.’

‘No, it’s late, and it’ll be even later when we finish. You will get back, and you will go to sleep. You can work on the ship tomorrow, it’s almost ready, trust me.’

‘I hate how you can always end up convincing me.’ Kun sighed and gave the tank a steady whack to make sure it was holding up okay.

Doyoung chirped, a triumphant smile on his face. ‘It’s my pleasure. We'll be there in an hour, go home and get changed, you smell like a stale spacecraft.’

‘Thanks, I love you too, Doyoung.’ Kun quietly went to work on something else as Doyoung disappeared around the corner. He tried to ignore how he could hear a faint clanking in the vents. He really didn’t need to think about anything else that needed work doing.

It took a while to get Kun out of the ship because there was always just one more thing to work on. But eventually, he was in his apartment back on Kelnippe and taking a shower to rid himself of the grime and dirt collected from working on the ship. Doyoung was right, it was getting late. He wouldn’t have time to go back and work on the ship afterwards even if he tried. With this, he decided he would allow himself to enjoy a drink or two with his crewmates.

After throwing on some half-decent clothes, he headed out into the night. The chill of the air settled through his skin and Kun regretted not wearing a heavier jacket. Thankfully the bar wasn’t far of a walk away.

At the bar, a cheerful-looking, slightly flushed Ten greeted him. ‘Ignore them, they’ve already had two drinks. I tried to stop them!’ Doyoung had explained, turning defensive when the look on Kun’s face turned to shock. Ten’s species were horrible lightweights. Such was clearly evident with the way their speech was already starting to slur. They were also wobbling as they tried to sit upon the barstool between Kun and Doyoung. Ten’s skin should have a slight hint of blue, but it was starting to turn redder as the alcohol soaked into their system. Kun laughed at the staggering Vonan and flagged down a tired bartender to order himself a drink.

When the bartender finished mixing and handed Kun his drink, Kun had to swat away Ten’s grabby hands. ‘Please, Kunnie?’ They drawled, trying to pout at Kun. When it didn’t look like Kun was going to give in, Ten huffed. ‘Fine, I’ll ask bird boy.’ The nickname drew a _‘Hey_!’ from Doyoung.

The rest of the time at the bar went by smoothly. Ten and Doyoung had retreated onto the dance floor at some point, leaving Kun at the bar to nurse his third drink of the night. There was a holographic display in one corner. It was playing some crappy show when it abruptly cut out to display a breaking news programme.

**_BREAKING NEWS - WANTED CRIMINAL_ **

_NOTORIOUS SPACE PIRATE AND DELINQUENT JOHNNY SUH WANTED FOLLOWING AN ATTACK ON A FEDERATION VESSEL ONLY A FEW HOURS AGO. HE WAS SIGHTED LEAVING THE VESSEL WITH A SMALLER MALE ONTO AN UNTRACEABLE SHIP WHICH VANISHED INTO WARP SPACE. IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER DETAILS THAT CAN HELP US CAPTURE THIS MAN PLEASE CONTACT THE FEDERATION POLICE IMMEDIATELY._

An old mugshot of the man accompanied the alert, and Kun’s grip on his glass tightened. ‘What the fuck?’ He muttered to himself as he managed to get a closer look at the man on the screen.

‘Crazy, right? The kids got some guts if he fancies going after a Fed vessel,’ a man sitting next to Kun spoke, a slight slur to his words. Kun only hummed in response, downing the last of his drink and getting up from the stool to collect his friends.

‘We need to leave,’ Kun remarked as he grabbed both Ten and Doyoung by the arms. He tried to forget how he approached them as they were grinding on each other. ‘I’ll explain later,’ he added in response to the various protests he got from the two. Doyoung had a scowl on his face whereas Ten’s eyebrows furrowed in concern.

‘Is everything,’ Ten paused to burp ‘is everything okay?’ Kun didn’t respond, only continued to drag them out of the club and outside. Once out in the fresh air, Kun allowed himself to breathe, counting to ten in his head to calm himself down.

‘You guys know how I was a refugee here from my home planet, Koliv U27, right?’ Kun let out a shuddering breath. He watched as Ten and Doyoung nodded. ‘And how I had this best friend that got taken away, separately from everyone else?’ Kun’s friends nodded again, concern growing on their faces. ‘Well, um,’ he paused, not knowing how to say it, ‘it turns out he’s, like, a wanted criminal now? And he was on the news just now for attacking a Federation ship, but he got away, and now they’re looking for him.’ Kuns’ legs shook, and he felt himself choking up. ‘I’m so- I’m sorry for dragging you guys out like this, I just-’

‘Kun, calm down,’ Doyoung spoke up, reaching a clawed hand out to rest on Kun’s shoulder as support. ‘At least now you know he’s alive, right?’

‘That’s not the- the point, oh Jupiter, Johnny what ha- what have you done?’ Kun hiccuped, the alcohol in his system finally settling in. He hadn’t even noticed the wetness on his cheeks.

‘Let’s get you home, yeah?’ Ten spoke up this time, taking one of Kun’s hands in theirs. Kun couldn’t bring himself to speak, so he only nodded and let Ten pull him to his apartment.

_15 star-years earlier_

Kun felt so incredibly lost. He was nine years old, separated from his family, and on a strange new planet with strange new people. Everyone looked so different from him and spoke a language he couldn’t understand. He got paired up to live with these two men- Taeyong and Taeil. They would look after him until he could look after himself. Taeil was small and soft-spoken. He was patient with Kun even though the boy was stubborn. He also tried to refuse any affection and insisted that he was fine, even if the older man wouldn’t understand him. The other man, Taeyong, was much quieter but wasn’t home very often, so Kun didn’t see him much. Taeil told him that Taeyong travels off planet-side for work a lot. But when he was back home, he was able to teach Kun Kippan as he was familiar with Kun’s native language. Despite not seeing him much, this made Kun feel more comfortable with Taeyong.

When they could sense that Kun was feeling more comfortable with them and talking to them more (with the help of Taeyong’s help with the language), they started to encourage Kun to tell them more about himself and what Koliv U27 was like.

‘Did you have many friends?’ Kun nodded at Taeil’s question. ‘Ooh, tell us about them!’ The older man beamed.

‘Umm... I had a best friend called- called Johnny, and uh, we played together a lot. We were..’ he trailed off, looking at Taeyong. ‘ _How do you say that I was really close to someone?_ ’ Kun asked in Kol, Taeyong translated. ‘I was really close to Johnny, we were friends for a really long time, and I kinda miss him? He was strange though and sometimes he would steal things, but he was nice to me.’ Taeyong held Kuns hand, smiling at him reassuringly when the boy didn’t tug away.

‘Do you know what happened to Johnny? Was he not brought with the rest of you?’ Taeil inquired.

‘No, I don’t know what happened to him. I asked the, um, the important people in that big building here about him but they didn’t know either. Do you- do you think he’s alright?’ Kun didn’t realise he had started crying until his words began to get jumbled and Taeil had taken hold of his other hand. Taeyong had started to run his thumb over Kun’s knuckles - the gesture was calming to Kun.

‘I’m sure he’s perfectly fine and that he probably got taken to another planet. Maybe he misses you too. We could go to those people again tomorrow when you get back from school and ask them again, make them look a little harder, yeah?’ Taeyong suggested, his voice soft.

‘Yeah, we can try that,’ Kun smiled weakly. He felt silly for being upset over something like this, but at least Taeil and Taeyong were understanding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if u like it and u can find me over on twt @ fiowerpil or cc @ syugafairy!!  
> update: i made a visual profile for doyoung ten and kun over on [twitter](https://twitter.com/fiowerpil/status/1150505481359765507?s=20)


	2. Two

_Present-day_

‘All ship systems online, Captain.’ Kun let out a sigh of relief as their AI system booted up again and informed him that everything is on and working.

‘Jupiter, thank you Haechan. Are all functional systems working properly? Anything broken?’

‘Nope, Ten has taken care of those. Everything is functioning safely and properly; we’re all set and ready for departure.’

Kun thanked Haechan again and hurried across the ship to where Doyoung has just poured himself a cup of brew. ‘Everything’s ready, we can go,’ he hopped excitedly where he stood, energy radiating off him in waves. Doyoung took a sip of his brew before saying anything, but the way his feathers began to flutter at his nape gave away that he was feeling just as excited as Kun was.

‘Have you told Ten yet?’ Doyoung asked, feathers settling down.

‘I’m on my way.’ Kun proceeded to hop out of the doorway and down into the engine room to update the mechanic.

‘Haechannie just told me. We’re ready when you are, Cap,’ they said with a grin, mirroring the look on Kun.

It took a moment, but Kun’s face fell still. ‘What if we bump into Johnny?’ He asked, his voice suddenly quiet. His eyes were searching Ten’s face for something.

‘Then we say hi, give him some brew, and hope he remembers you enough to not kill us. We’re going to be okay, Kunnie.’ They responded, taking Kun’s hand. Kun felt unconvinced that things would be alright, but nodded regardless.

‘Haechannie, alert Commander Sooman that we’re ready for departure. I’ll be in the hull if anyone needs me.’

It has been months since Kun and his crew have been on an exploration voyage and the Captain was more than excited to get back in the pilot’s seat and head towards an unknown coordinate. His shoulder patches indicating his Captain status glistened in the harsh LED lights in the walkway to the hull, and he worked on pushing any anxiety aside. Kun wanted to do this properly. He wanted to show the Commander that he and his crew are capable. And somewhere, deep down, he wanted to find Johnny. The reporter stated that there was a smaller man with him, leaving Kun to wonder if maybe Johnny has an accomplice, or perhaps just a new friend that hangs out with him on their… space pirate-y stuff. Kun scolded himself at the thought - of course Johnny probably has new friends, it’s been 15 star-years! He had to remind himself that Johnny seems like an entirely new person now. His hands shook at the thought that Johnny wouldn’t remember Kun. He didn’t know if he’d be able to fight back.

‘Everything ready, Captain?’ A familiar voice over the Comm questioned. It was Commander Sooman.

‘I’ve been ready since I got back from the last trip,’ Kun responded, buckling himself into the pilot seat. His body turned to autopilot as he carried out the procedure of methodically switching on the controls. The lights on the dashboard in front of him lit up and danced in sync with each other, and the display soothed Kun. He smiled to himself. This is where he belongs, not cooped up in an apartment building or an office. He resides in the Captain’s chair, the pilot seat. He belonged wherever he could be in control. Kun disliked being under the command of others - he always had his own ideas and strategies, he enjoyed being in charge. It gave him freedom. And right now, at the front of the ship with all the controls at his fingertips and his crew an intercom announcement away, he felt at peace. In a few minutes, he would be pulling out of the docking station, away from the constraints of being on a planet, and into the realms of space. He both loved and feared what awaited him. He loved the absence of restraints, the tranquillity of being inside such a powerful vacuum. He loved being able to discover and explore new life, new cultures and civilisations. However, the quietness often deafened Kun, and he felt surrounded, trapped. He didn’t like how insistent his mind became, how unwanted thoughts and memories resurfaced. His crewmates said he often worked himself too hard on a voyage, but Kun was only trying to distance himself from the cacophony of activity raging in his head. Sometimes they would travel on a route he didn’t like too much. Kun remembered it all too well, despite being only nine and awfully scared and confused. Sometimes lone rock fragments or clusters would hurtle past, and Kun wondered if it was from somewhere he knew.

‘Captain Qian, we’re out of orbit. You’re free to step down and rest now,’ Haechan’s voice sounded through the hull, bringing Kun out of his thoughts. He caressed his temples lightly before unbuckling himself and heading towards the kitchen to make himself some brew. ‘Everything okay Cap?’ The voice followed Kun through the walkway, the lights on the wall moving alongside him. Kun knows that Haechan knows, he’s an AI with access to Kun’s life history if he wanted. 

‘Everythings fine, I just got caught up in my head a bit, you know how I get,’ Kun grumbled as the door to the kitchen opened for him, and he stepped inside. He headed to the supply cupboard and picked out the most caffeinated batch they had available. 

‘You know that’s not good for your health,’ Haechan spoke up, lights on the wall turning a warm orange in disapproval.

‘Do you have anything better to offer?’ Kun retorted. His head hurt from the anxieties whirring around, and if he was going to get anything of worth done, he needed something strong. He was heading towards long hours of files to sift through and notes to take. Oh, and a small crew to stop from murdering each other. Kun doesn’t know why Doyoung chose to work on a ship; his species get cranky when leaving orbit and are in a confined space for too long.

Haechans lack of a response answered Kun’s question. He thus proceeded to scoop out some of the beans from the jar and dumped them into a brewing machine. He pressed some buttons, waited for a beep to indicate the start of the brewing process, and turned around, leaning against the counter.

‘Could you give me an update on how Ten and Doyoung are doing real quick, please?’ He asked the AI, looking into the camera hidden in the corner of the kitchen. The machine behind him was whizzing away happily.

‘Status report: Doyoung,’ Haechan reported, ‘currently napping. Status report: Ten. Fiddling with something.’

‘Oh good, they’re okay,’ Kun sighed in relief. Leaving orbit always took a toll on the body, regardless of species. You were lucky if you could get used to the feeling.

The brewing machine sounded a _ding_ from behind Kun, and he took the capsule out to pour the liquid into a mug. 

Ten came into the kitchen, their heightened sense of smell detecting the drink. ‘Please tell me you made enough for two,’ they pleaded, tentacles going limp behind them. Kun wordlessly poured out a cup for each of them, handing one to Ten. The Vonan just gasped out a thank you and downed the drink in one go. ‘I hate everything,’ they muttered.

‘Tell me about it,’ Kun responded as he took a sip of his drink. ‘Fancy keeping me company while I file old reports?’

‘That sounds so boring, I’m in.’ Ten followed Kun out the kitchen and down the walkway to where Kun’s makeshift office resided. It was a bit of a mess, and Kun figured they would be spending the next hour or two just tidying up and organising everything. 

Doyoung spent the time it took to leave orbit to have a nap. This part could take a toll on anyone’s bodies, but mostly for Delliqians. It exhausted them and if they weren’t careful, would make them sick and thus useless for the remainder of the voyage. A sick Delliqian was not something a crew wanted, especially such a small one like theirs.

Yes, he was the plant guy, but he was also in charge of the cooking and any herbal remedies or medicines and was most knowledgeable in what plant meant what, and whether a particular plant was poisonous or not. If it weren’t for Doyoung, Kun and Ten would have both succumbed to innocent-looking yet poisonous berries while visiting a new planet. Doyoung was who they went to when they were stressed or weren’t feeling good because he was able to provide them with a tea or remedy that can help them out. Despite not being particularly useful when it came to technical things and flying, he was a valued member of the crew and was the most skilled in communication. Even though he eventually studied galactic botany at the Academy, Doyoung was initially interested in pursuing communications. He was good at talking, and his language skills were some of the best even Kun has seen, and this was something Doyoung knew. He was good at negotiating and encouraging people to do things, as well as just generally getting the point across. Doyoung was who Kun went to when he needed assistance when writing up reports because he _always_ knew how to word something just right.

Before his nap, the last thing he heard was Kun talking with Haechan before they entered flight, and he could hear Ten hitting and cursing at something metallic a few doors down. Delliqians were heavy sleepers, and with the toll leaving orbit had on him, once Doyoung had drifted off, there was no chance of waking him up.

Unless the ship begins to shake and starts making noises it shouldn’t.

‘Haechannie,’ he groaned, sleep still present, ‘what just happened?’ Doyoung received no answer besides some unhealthy sounding fuzzing from the monitor in his room. ‘Haechan?’ He called out again to no response. His feathers fluffed up in alarm at this - Haechan was always ready to alert the crew of any damage or problem and would _always_ answer them when they called. When he didn’t, that meant there was a severe problem. He hopped off his bed and tried to have a look at the monitor to see if there was anything obvious with the display. Doyoung was met with nothing.

From down the hallway, Doyoung heard a heavy thud and some faint groaning, the voice unfamiliar to him. He then heard some talking in a language he didn’t know which frustrated him because Doyoung is the one most familiar with languages on the ship, being fluent in more than he could count. The fact he couldn’t understand these voices meant that something was _very_ wrong. The _Arabidopsis_ in his room was wilting.

‘Hey, it’s okay. I’m sure it’s nothing too serious. I’m going to go out and see what's happening, okay? I’ll be right back,’ he spoke, the plant regaining some of its colour due to Doyoung’s reassurance. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/fiowerpil)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/syugafairy)


	3. Three

They were about ten minutes into their cleaning when the ship shuddered in a way that didn’t feel right, and a low groaning sound accompanied it. ‘I’m… going to check that out,’ Ten said, getting up off the floor and heading out the room and down the walkway to the engine room. Kun followed a few paces behind. They had only been in flight for about an hour, and already things were going wrong. He knew it was all going far too well.

Kun hovered out by the doorway to the engine room, not believing in himself to not break anything or make things worse. Kun may be the Captain, but this was Ten’s speciality, and he trusted them to do the right thing.

‘Anything wrong?’ He called out, feeling anxiety grow in his stomach.

‘I can’t see anything,’ Ten shouted back, head probably buried inside something to get a closer look.

‘I’m going to check up on Doyoung, get Haechan to find me if you do find anything.’

‘Sure thing, Cap.’ Kun took off at a steady pace to where Doyoung was standing in the walkway outside his room.

‘You okay?’ He asked the Delliqian, whose feathers were flattened against his body, indicating that he was scared.

‘I—Haechan didn’t respond when I asked what happened. There was like, a thud? From over there?’ He pointed a clawed finger down the corridor. ‘And then the ship shook. Do you know what’s happening, Captain?’ Doyoung’s voice was shaky, matching the way Kun felt. He trailed back to what Doyoung had said, about Haechan not responding, and then he realised that Haechan didn’t alert them of anything when it happened. It was unlike their AI to be silent in a situation like this—it doesn’t often happen at all, but they run simulations sometimes to ensure everything is working as it should.

 _‘Shit,_ ’ Kun blurted at the realisation that something was very wrong. Their ship was probably currently compromised, and he had no idea what to do. Kun bolted off down to where Doyoung had gestured and came face to face with a small man, clearly Martian, who was currently fiddling with some wires in the wall. He didn’t seem to hear Kun approaching.

‘Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?’ Kun barked, alarming the man who jumped back with a yelp before quickly holding a gun in Kun’s direction. Kun’s been loosely trained in direct combat and defending himself, but he’s never actually had to _do it_ before.

The boy had a mask over the lower half of his face so Kun couldn’t correctly see him, but his skin was a warm red, and his eyes were dark and expressive. They shook as he stood, gun still pointed towards Kun. The fixture the boy was working on in the wall fizzled slightly, and Kun cursed internally because he had just got everything fixed. From the way the boy in front of him failed to do anything besides stand there, Kun guessed that he wasn’t too used to this either. Maybe the kid was new on the scene? He did look rather young. Kun took some hesitant steps towards him.

‘Stop! I—I’m not afraid to—to shoot!’ He stammered. 

‘Is anyone with you?’ Kun asked, hoping he sounded confident enough. He couldn’t be sure if this kid were genuinely scared and inexperienced or if it was all just an act. His face was unreadable.

‘Nope! Just—Just me!’ A _clang_ from around the corner betrayed the boy.

‘Don’t you dare move,’ he ordered. He really wished at that moment that he had Haechan to watch the boy for him. He passed the boy, keeping his hands in the air to show he wasn’t going to suddenly attack, just in case, and headed around the corner. A few steps later and Kun was met with—

Oh.

_Oh dear._

‘Johnny?’ He croaked out, not daring to move. The man in front of him had some supplies in one arm and a heavier looking gun in the other. He was taller than Kun, incredibly so, and much more muscular. And he _definitely_ knew what he was doing.

‘How the fuck do you know my name?’ He growled at Kun, accent mirroring his but much stronger and rougher. Kun couldn’t respond before Johnny shoved him into the wall. ‘I will take what I need, and then I will leave. Where is your crew?’

Kun couldn’t speak. He tried to, but all that came out was a choked whimper as Johnny pressed harder against his neck with his arm. Kun wanted to cry—Johnny didn’t remember him. Johnny, his childhood friend who he’s been looking for for years is probably about to take his ship or his friends or both or _worse,_ and nothing back at the Academy or in training could have prepared him for this.

‘What—’ Kun paused to clear his throat. ‘What do you need? You can have anything, please don’t take my crew.’ He knew how pathetic he probably sounded, and the look on Johnny’s face mirrored that. Johnny could kill him and Ten and Doyoung in a swift movement without thinking twice, perhaps with his bare hands by the look of it. For a brief moment, Kun wondered if he’d be able to tell Taeyong and Taeil that he found him.

Johnny grunted at Kun’s response, letting go of his grip and letting Kun collapse to the ground. ‘You can’t tell me what to do,’ he muttered firmly before walking out of sight, around the corner. Kun could hear heavy footsteps and muffled conversation, and he was too struck, too scared to do anything. He fixed his position on the floor, so he was sitting instead of crouching, and he could feel the way his entire body shook.

‘This has to be a bad dream, oh Jupiter,’ he whispered to himself, staring at one of the lights on the ceiling in a hope to wake himself up. It didn’t work. This whole situation was real. He considered trying to fiddle around with one of the wall panels to see if he could get Haechan back up and running, but his experience and knowledge of that area of technology were minimal, and Kun knew he would probably mess something up, but he also couldn’t bring himself to move and find Ten. He hoped they were okay.

Doyoung had more experience with physical defence and combat, and his large tail helped him a lot, so Kun trusted that if anything happened to him, he could take care of himself. But Ten was much smaller and not as trained, and so Kun only hoped that they were either with Doyoung or out of harm's way.

Kun remained sat there for a few moments, his brain fighting with itself. He felt pathetic and a coward that he was a lousy captain who can’t even protect his ship and his crew. They were probably in danger right now and there he was, wallowing in self-pity on the floor. Kun slapped himself a few times, trying to get his thoughts back in order and to piece himself back together before standing up on shaky legs. He took a deep breath and followed the corner round where Johnny had disappeared.

He could hear talking in a language he wasn’t familiar with, so Kun assumed it was Johnny and the boy that was with him. He crept down the hallway, not wanting to alert them of his presence. As he approached closer, he could hear a set of footsteps begin speed walking away from where he stood, and then Johnny muttering something to himself. _‘They call this a ship? It’s a piece of crap.’_ Johnny had spoken in Kol, the language being a familiar feeling to Kun, but he didn’t have time to feel nostalgic before another set of footsteps started making their way back to Kun.

‘Oh, you again,’ Johnny scoffed, returning to speak in Kippan.

‘ _What happened to you?’_ Kun asked in Kol. He noticed how Johnny looked taken back with the words - finding people from Koliv U27 who still spoke Kol was rare as the refugees were mostly children who hadn’t lived with the language long enough. Despite the current situation, Kun felt slightly comforted to be talking in his native tongue.

‘ _Who the fuck are you?’_

 _‘Can we discuss this when you’re not holding a gun, please?’_ Kun tried to plead. He didn’t want to fight Johnny; he just wanted to talk to him and understand what had happened. This wasn’t the Johnny he was friends with, and Kun wanted to know why.

Johnny rose said gun. _‘I don’t do discussions. Answer the question.’_

Kun contemplated dropping the topic, thinking he should instead fight back, but something kept tugging away in his brain. He decided against it. ‘ _I_ _’m Captain Qian Kun of the NCT-116,’_ Kun paused, hoping his name would register as familiar in Johnny’s brain. He sighed when Johnny’s eyes showed no change, ‘ _we used to be friends, back on Koliv U27 before it got destroyed and we all got taken away. Now, you answer my question; what happened to you?’_

_‘It’s none of your damn business what happened to me, and I don’t give a shit what happened to you.’_

_‘Do you really not re—’_

_‘Shut up and move before I kill you.’_ That shut Kun up pretty quickly. Johnny was currently pointing his gun directly at Kun’s face, and they were much closer than they were a few moments ago. Kun felt frozen in his spot, and right then, he wondered if he really was going to die. If he was going to die at the hands of the person who protected him from trouble when they were kids. For one of the smartest people at the Academy, Kun felt absolutely lost. He had no idea what to do. He passed all the training and exams with the highest marks at a remarkable young age, yet there was no examination criteria, no training course that could help him in this current situation.

Kun stepped aside, maintaining eye contact with the man. His sight caught the jagged point of Johnny’s ear, a contrast to the smoothness of Kun’s own. He could see faint scars on his face and just wondered so much what happened to him.

‘Kun? Captain?’ His senses zoned back in to Ten, calling his name gently. Their tentacles were poised and stiff as if they were ready to defend themself at any moment.

‘Are you okay?’ He spoke, voice quiet.

‘I’m fine, and so is Doyoung, he managed to fight off that kid. I dunno where he left him though, I was too scared to follow. Are _you_ okay? You look so pale.’ Kun let out a sigh after hearing his friends were okay. He knew he could count on Doyoung to fight back. 

‘Do you think you can get Haechan running again? It feels wrong without him,’ Kun asked, ignoring Ten’s question because honestly, Kun didn’t know how he felt at all, this situation being far too overwhelming.

‘Oh—yeah, I can try. Don’t do anything dumb, Cap,’ Ten chuckled before heading towards the ships electrical room. Kun could tell their tentacles were still on high alert.

Once alone in the hallway again, Kun allowed himself to take some deep breaths and recompose himself. He was the Captain of this ship and he should be acting as such. He straightened himself out and took down the passage where Johnny had walked past him.

He found the man a few meters down, trying to get into the engine room.

‘I don’t think that’s a very good idea, John,’ he called out. It all seemed to happen in a split second, but Kun had gotten hold of Johnny’s collar and holding him up against the wall. Their faces were, once again, incredibly close, their noses almost touching. Kun had to strain his neck to look up at Johnny. ‘You’ve caused enough trouble already and I won’t stand for this. Get off my ship, please don’t make me tell you again,’ he sneered. He tried to pretend that he wasn’t scared, especially with how Johnny’s face was devoid of all emotion. The close proximity allowed him to get a closer look at the scars on his face, varying in colour and shape.

‘And who are you to tell me what to do again?’ Johnny hissed.

‘The Captain of this damn ship. If you’re lucky, I might let you go without reporting you to the Federation or just keeping you here to take back to them. I’m sure you wouldn’t like that, would you?’

‘I’m sure you’ve also heard what I’m capable of. The Federation can’t do anything to me, they’re powerless against me.’

‘I’m sure they are, Johnny, but you’re going to have to break someday. You’re awfully reckless for letting me keep you here—’

‘That’s because I know you won’t do shit to me, you’re too weak to even call yourself a _Captain_ ,’ Johnny interrupted, bringing his face ever closer to Kun’s. He had to try and force down the flush that was threatening to spread across his face.

‘Well, you don’t seem to be doing very well at your job either. What kind of “space pirate” makes such a racket when breaking into an occupied ship during departure _and_ brings a kid with him, huh?’ Kun argued, his grip on Johnny’s collar tightening and emphasizing his words with air quotes using his free hand. He felt a small sense of achievement when Johnny failed to answer him. ‘Thought so.’ Kun grinned.

The tension between them was broken when the smaller male that was with Johnny wrapped an arm around Kun’s throat, locking him in a chokehold. ‘We were just leaving, actually. So, if you’ll let us,’ he spoke smoothly, a stark difference from how he was earlier. Maybe Kun was right in thinking that was all an act. He moved backwards, bringing Kun with him and away from Johnny.

‘May I ask who _you_ are?’ Kun asked, voice straining.

‘Sorry, I don’t give out my identity to authority and neither does big man here. The fact that you already know who he is, probably means that you’re up to some shady business, Captain. Maybe involving yourself in things you shouldn’t be?’

‘I told him, we were friends when we were kids,’ Kun tried to explain.

‘Sure, sure,’ the boy tutted. ‘Well regardless, you can’t just go around knowing who we are, that's dangerous!’ He spoke with a demeaning tone.

‘The media already know Johnny, he was on the news last night for—’ Kun tried to argue but the grip around his throat tightened, restricting him. He really underestimated the strength of this boy.

‘I don’t care for excuses. Anyways,’ he sighed, ‘I hope you know this means we have to kill you now.’ At this, Kun’s fight or flight response kicked in and without even thinking, kicked his foot back into the boy’s knee, crippling him and giving him the chance to pull out the small phaser he keeps in his belt for emergencies. He hadn’t noticed that during this whole exchange, Johnny had remained silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/fiowerpil)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/syugafairy)


	4. Four

Ten was preoccupied with trying to get the ships electrics to start working again when they heard the commotion outside. They heard Kun shout say something then a thump against a wall followed; the solid structure of the ship muffled everything, so they didn’t really know what was happening. Ten decided that as long as they don’t try to come into the electrical room or if they don’t hear anything too violent, then they are safe to continue with what they were doing.

It remained like this for some time, with a third voice joining them some way through. Ten tried to keep an ear open for any sign of trouble but mostly stuck to their task at hand. They focused on reconnecting wires that had fused out and getting Haechan back. It involved deep concentration and a lot of digging around, so they almost didn’t notice when a hard grunt sounded, and Kun’s voice rose outside. They grabbed a phaser from the compartment in the wall panelling and crept towards the door, pushing it open slightly. It was very inconvenient having Haechan down because it means they have to use extra strength to open the heavy doors instead of putting that energy for something else, but it's okay, they’ll live. Ten peeked his head out the door at the commotion. They were a few feet down, the tall man pressed against the wall with Kun in front of him, pointing a phaser at the smaller man. The tall man looked awfully familiar, but Ten figured that was a thought for another time. They kept their phaser poised at their side in their hands in case they needed to draw it but kept it discharged. Ten really wasn’t keen on hurting anyone today. Or ever, really. That wasn’t their plan.

Neither Kun nor the intruders noticed Ten’s arrival. They were too busy exchanging threats and negotiations with the intruders speaking to each other in a language Ten didn’t understand. Kun didn’t seem to understand either, and Ten wasn’t sure whether that was supposed to worry or comfort them.

But then Kun started speaking in a language that they’ve only heard him speak a handful of occasions before; mostly when he was talking to himself, and he thought he was alone, though. However, when the taller man responded in that same language, Ten felt things fit into place. The taller man had physical characteristics as Kun, and spoke the same language, and looked familiar to Ten. _Dear Jupiter,_ they thought, _that’s probably that Johnny guy._

Unfortunately for Ten, they were still talking in the unfamiliar language, so Ten didn’t know whether they should intervene or not. They figured they should wait until the individual's body language suggested danger before they did anything because they really weren’t too sure about getting involved. From what Ten could make out, it looked as though Kun had things under control.

Except Kun did _not_ have things under control.

The two men were somehow always at least two steps ahead of him as if they had been anticipating Kun’s every move and calculating their responses accordingly; it was like they had planned this. Kun had not planned this, _couldn’t_ have planned this. He started thinking about all the time he had where he could have planned this out in case it did happen, his anxieties were persistent enough to warrant such a thing, but Kun was more focused on just getting back out into space and doing what he loved. He didn’t want to have to prepare for this to happen because it meant interrupting his work and ruining his day and probably leaving them with fewer supplies or a weaker ship. It was an inconvenience that he didn’t want nor need and the fact that it was happening _right now_ was almost enough to set him over the edge. But he had to hold it together, for the sake of his ship and his crew. As well as his reputation as one of the youngest graduates of the Academy of Federation Space Travel, but that wasn’t as important to him.

Kun felt every little sense of control slip away with every second that the smaller man had the gun pressed against his head and Johnny’s arm locked around his neck.

Out of the corner of his eye, Kun saw Ten pressed against one of the doorways, holding their phaser. He could have cried, honestly; both in relief that he wasn’t about to die alone, but also fear and powerlessness. He should be able to handle this himself, he thought. His friend and crewmate shouldn’t have to bail him out of this. Kun didn’t do anything to alert the men of Ten’s presence as it seemed they were still unaware, so instead, he used this to his advantage.

‘You’re kind of a shit Captain, y’know? Like, your crews probably cowering in fear somewhere, wondering if their “brave old Captain” is going to save the day! You all look as weak as each other, to be honest with you,’ the small man rambled on. It felt like he was stalling, but Kun wasn’t too sure about anything at the moment.

‘Doyoung could knock you out with his tail if he wanted to, don’t underestimate him,’ Kun croaked out, trying to sound confident. The man before him laughed.

‘I’d like to see him try.’ Kun tried to respond to him, but the force around his neck tightened, restricting his voice. ‘Johnny, please, you’re going to strangle him at this rate. You killed the last person. It’s my chance now!’ The man whined. Johnny released his grip slightly. Kun paled at the prospect of Johnny _killing someone._

Just as Kun was starting to feel more helpless than he was comfortable with, he saw Ten hurry down the hallway towards them, their tentacles extending to extract the gun from the small man’s hands.

‘I _highly_ suggest you let Captain Qian go. Is there anything you need? I’m sure we’d be happy to oblige.’

‘Oh, we don’t need anything.’ Ten looked at the smaller man, an eyebrow raised. ‘Only your Captain,’ he said with a smirk. Kun, pathetically, was about to cry.

The last things he processed before everything went dark was a gunshot, shouting, and a blunt force to his face.

~

‘Kun? Captain? Oh good, you’re awake,’ he heard Doyoung speak above him. He could feel that he was lying down on something, probably the medical in Doyoung’s medical ward.

‘What happened?’ Is Ten okay?’ Kun asked, voice hoarse. There was a deep, thudding ache in his skull.

‘They’re in worse shape than you, I’m afraid, but they’re doing okay. You’re lucky I got to you guys when I did.’ Doyoung was hurrying about, shining things into Kun’s eyes and checking vitals on the screen above Kun’s bed. He could see Ten on the other bed a few meters away from them, looking as though they were sleeping soundly. When Kun’s vision came back into focus, he could see bruises purpling their skin and their leg heavily wrapped in some bandages.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well,’ Doyoung began. ‘I came over to you as soon as I heard the shot. Thankfully I was only a few doors down making something I could probably poison the intruders with. They had shot Ten, and you’d been knocked out. They were about to kill you when I got to them, I think.’ Doyoung paused to allow Kun to process the information.

‘What happened then? Did they hurt you?’ Kun asked, his voice shaking.

‘They tried to, but I managed to have that poisoned solution ready enough to at least knock them out so I could bring you over here. The tall guy was Johnny, right?’ Kun nodded as best as he could. ‘I managed to find out the identity of the kid that he was with. Poor thing had a sort of code on his shoulder, so I looked it up.’ Doyoung hurried over to pick up his Pad and started reading out information.

‘Mark Lee, aged around 20 years old but no ones really too sure. He’s from Mars but was kidnapped as a child by a group of fugitives. No one really knows much what happened then, but in recent years he has been spotted alongside Johnny in attacking vessels and just committing a bunch of other petty crimes.’ Doyoung explained, looking up to meet Kun.

‘He’s so young,’ the Captain mumbled, probably to himself. Doyoung just hummed in response. ‘The Federation is probably going to find out about this; what am I supposed to tell them? I’m supposed to be one of their best Captains, especially considering my age and yet I almost got us killed, Doie. Oh, Jupiter, they might ask if I could identify them. Where are they right now, do you know?’

‘I got them beamed back to their ship while they were still unconscious, Captain. They should wake in a few hours with little memory of what happened here.’ Kun sighed.

‘Did they take anything?’

‘Nothing I could easily get back. They seemed to have like a handheld beaming device, so maybe they were sending things back to their ship as they went. I’ve yet to be able to assess what they took, though,’ Doyoung said apologetically.

‘Don’t worry about it. We can sort it out later.’ Kun yawned before wincing at the pain that shoots through his skull.

‘Get some rest, Cap. You need it.’ The last thing Kun heard before falling back into sleep was the sounds of some beeping around him and Doyoung shifting. His sleep was dreamless, as usual.

~

‘You’ve been offline for approximately three hours and thirty-seven minutes, Captain. Care to explain?’ Commander Sooman ordered through the screen.

Kun decided to get straight to the point, not wanting to piss the man off any more: ‘We got attacked by space pirates, Commander. Fortunately, my crew and I were able to hand the situation, and thus no one was harmed,’ he explained, hoping the Commander can’t see the bruise beginning to blossom on Kun’s face. Ten was also currently being tended to by Doyoung for a gunshot wound to their leg. But the Commander didn’t need to know that - they could deal with that themselves.

‘No one was harmed, hm?’ Kun’s face paled, ‘then what’s that bruise then?’

‘I was able to defend myself, sir.’ The Commander just hummed in response. It was like he didn’t believe Kun but didn’t want to dwell on this too much. A part of Kun was thankful for Commander Soomans trust in him. Kun’s foot bounced on the ground, and he had to sit on his hands to keep from fidgeting. He just wanted this conversation to be over so he can attend to his crew without the Federation breathing down his neck.

‘Did you lose any supplies? Does anything need repairing?’ The Commander questioned.

‘Only some food and medical supplies, but we can stock up at Port Morgo - our course takes us past there anyway. Doyoung can keep us sorted with any medical supplies until we can get some more. And regarding the status of the ship herself, Ten has repaired what they could, but there are still some parts that need a little extra work, sir.’

‘Like what?’ Kun could hear the tired sigh through the fuzzy audio.

‘Uhm, our warp boosters are now only functioning at maximum 50% power, sir. Ten is trying to work out how to increase that percentage, but it’s, unfortunately, a little out of their expertise. If they can’t manage it, we will see what we can find on Port Morgo - I’m sure Ten has some contacts that can help us out.’

The Commander let out another sigh before humming. Looking at something on his Pad, he spoke: ‘As long as you stay on course and do not exceed the time schedule.’

‘Of course, Commander. Thank you,’ Kun responded, feeling relief flood his body - he felt like a child finally being allowed to play outside after an acid rainstorm (the chemicals in the air would bring feelings of joy. Children couldn’t get enough of it.) The connection cut off and he was left in silence in his office. The only other sound was the faint humming of Haechan’s system as it re-calibrated and the groans of where the ship remains docked. He massaged his temples, wincing when pain shot through the left side of his face; Johnny had hit him with his gun, knocking him out. They got lucky that Doyoung was left unharmed as he could treat their wounds and nurse them quickly back to health.

Kun was about to get up from where he sat when a message pinged through onto his Pad.

 _> >From: **Commander Lee Sooman**_  
_> >To: **Captain Qian Kun**_  
_> >Subject: **Pirates**_

_Those space pirates you encountered, were you able to identify any of them? I’m sure you understand my concern, especially regarding recent attacks to other Federation vessels. Did you get any names or information? It would help us greatly if you’re able to provide as it means we can track them down sooner and get them arrested as soon as we can._

_Oh, and also, take care of yourself._

_Commander Sooman_

Kun hesitated when it came to sending a response. He knew who they were, he could easily tell the Commander and get them captured and keep the Federation and other space travellers safe, but he had also just found Johnny after _so damn long,_ and he didn’t want to lose him again. He knew it was selfish; Johnny was a different person than when they were nine. The mans _killed people_ for fuck's sake, Kun thought. He and Mark together were a danger to the Federation and getting them captured was the most obvious option to keep everyone safe. Kun groaned out in frustration, then pain as a headache started to pulse its way through his skull. He needed to talk to Doyoung about this; surely he’d know what to do. But then again, he doesn’t _understand_ and would tell him to do his job and report the criminals. It would be the safest option and probably the one that would keep Kun’s career, but surely a little lie wouldn’t hurt, right? He could just say that their faces were covered and they refused to say anything about themselves and that they had nothing about them that could identify them. He slumped back in his chair, chucking the Pad somewhere on his desk, not caring where it ended up.

‘Why am I even thinking about this?’ He asked himself aloud. Johnny doesn’t remember him and Mark sure as hell doesn’t care, so why should he be debating whether or not he turn them in? Then an idea popped into his brain, one that would satisfy both sides of his conscience. He would turn them in but request that they be under Kun’s supervision. That way, they’d be unable to do harm as well as Kun being able to talk to them, specifically Johnny.

‘You seem to be having a dilemma, Captain,’ Haechans voice resonated through the office. In honesty, Kun had forgotten he was there.

‘A moral dilemma, Haechannie. Jupiter, I’m stupid,’ Kun groaned again, moving to bury his head in his hands.

‘Hey, now, don’t say that about yourself,’ Haechan scolded. ‘I can’t quite understand the situation you’re in nor the emotions you are feeling, but I can say that you should go with what your heart says to do.’

Kun just scoffed. ‘That would probably result in me losing my position. I don’t even know why I’m so caught up with this anyway; it’s not like turning him in would make a difference.’

‘Are you scared of losing him again?’

Kun paused. Theoretically, yes, but only to an extent. He’s been searching for this man for years, but he’s starting to question if all of it was worth it. A small part of him, however, wants to help rehabilitate him, to help him become a better person. If only he would _let him_.

‘This isn’t supposed to be this hard; I should know what to do. Fuck, I should’ve arrested them as soon as they got here,’ Kun cursed into his hands.

‘Don’t blame yourself.’

‘ _A good captain doesn’t allow his emotions to interfere with his line of duty_ ’ Kun recited the words he was told during his training back at the Academy. ‘And what am I doing? The complete opposite of that.'

‘It’s only natural to be putting your emotions first in a situation like this. You lost your best friend when you were young, and for so many years you thought he was gone, but he must have meant something to you because you didn’t give up on him. Even now, when he’s a wanted space pirate who tried to _kill_ you, you don’t want to lose him again. You’re scared that if you tell the Federation who they are, that they’ll be thrown away and likely executed. But you’re also aware that as a highly respected Captain in the Federation, that’s what you’re supposed to do. He’s a bad person, and he’s hurt innocent people and done bad things, and you’re a good person who follows the rules and does as he’s told. I trust you to do the right thing, Captain, but that doesn’t always have to mean the _legal_ thing.’ Haechan spoke, his words careful after knowing Kun for many years as his ships AI.

‘I want to help him,’ Kun whispered. ‘I’m going to tell the Commander, and I’m going to request that I can at least visit them and talk to them. Mark is - he’s so young. I want to know what happened to them.’

‘Then that’s what you’re going to do.’ Haechan’s voice turned soft. Kun didn’t know why he didn’t just consult him about this in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/fiowerpil)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/syugafairy)


End file.
